Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians 2? We will begin with verse 1.
And I, when I came unto you, brethren, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Beginning with verse 6:
We speak wisdom, however, among them that are full-grown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought:
But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory:
Which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written,
Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not,
And which entered not into the heart of man,
Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love Him.
But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.
But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.
Please turn also to Matthew 16. We will begin with verse 13.
Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is?
And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in heaven.
And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
From that time began Jesus to show unto His disciples, that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather here in Thy presence, our hearts do bow in worship. How we praise and thank Thee for Thy tremendous love. How we praise Thee for sending Thy only begotten Son to us.
How we praise and thank Thee that Thou wast willing to go to the cross for our sake. We acknowledge that everything comes from Thee, and everything is through Thee and unto Thee.
How we do desire, Lord, that Thou be glorified in the midst of Thy people. So we look to Thee this morning, that Thy Holy Spirit will work among us, release Thy Word to us, and plant Thy Word into our hearts, that it may bear fruit unto Thyself.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, we thank God for giving us this opportunity to be together. We know that we are living at the very end of this age.
We do not know whether this gathering will be our last gathering before the Lord’s return. It is possible, and we look forward to it. The Lord is coming soon.
We love Him, even though we have not seen Him; but we long to see Him face to face. Yet there is a question: are we ready for Him? Are we prepared to meet Him?
When we see Him, will we be put to shame, or will we be glorifying Him? Thank God that He still gives us this opportunity to be ready for our Lord.
So, dear brothers and sisters, I feel that this is a very crucial time. We cannot afford to be complacent. We have to seek Him diligently with all our hearts.
This is not a time to play around. This is the time, dear brothers and sisters, that we all become very serious about Him.
I feel that there is a lack of desperation in our spirit. If we really know our time, I believe that we should feel desperate.
May the Lord give us this spirit, that we will really look steadfastly unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
Now, the theme of this conference, I believe, is clear to every one of us: the way to the eternal purpose of God—the cross.
In past conferences, we have shared many times and in many ways concerning the eternal purpose of God. To know God is to know His purpose. Our God is a God of purpose.
Even before the foundation of the world, God purposed a purpose in Himself. That purpose governs all His plans and all His ways.
In other words, throughout the ages and generations, He has been working for that very purpose. You can see immediately how important and essential that purpose is.
If we miss that purpose, then our whole life will be a loss and a waste.
What is the eternal purpose of God? It is what God has revealed to us of His heart and of His mind—the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages in God.
Thank God that it has now been revealed to us through the apostles and the prophets. Today, this mystery is an open secret.
But, brothers and sisters, even though it has been revealed and recorded in the Word of God, we must receive personal revelation from the Lord. Without that revelation, the eternal purpose of God is merely a vague theory.
But when God reveals it into your heart, then you will find there is a transformation. In all spiritual things, we need revelation, because in ourselves there is absolutely no way to know God.
May the Lord give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge of God.
In the past, our emphasis was more on this matter of revelation. How we need that heavenly vision.
The apostle Paul, before he received that heavenly vision, was groping in darkness. He wanted to serve God, but what he did was opposing God.
But thank God, on the road to Damascus, it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. What a transformation came upon him. He became Paul the apostle, one who really knew the eternal purpose of God.
So, brothers and sisters, pray to the Lord that He will grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we may really know what is the eternal purpose of God.
To put it very simply, the eternal purpose of God is none other than Christ and His church.
But without revelation from above, our understanding of Christ and our understanding of the church are completely outward. They are superficial, and they are full of errors.
Only with revelation from above do we really know Christ and really know what the church is.
But this time our emphasis is different. Instead of emphasizing the matter of revelation, we want to emphasize the way.
We do not mean to say that revelation is insignificant. It is very basic. But we have gone over that so many times that we feel there is a need to emphasize the way.
You remember the letter to the Ephesians. There are two prayers that the apostle Paul prayed for the church.
His first prayer is that God may grant them the spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the knowledge of God. But then, in chapter 3, he had another prayer.
The emphasis of that prayer is that we may apprehend the fullness of God. In other words, the first prayer concerns revelation, and the second prayer concerns the way.
Revelation is a heavenly vision. But without the way—the cross—it will remain in heaven.
For that revelation to become reality in our lives, to be fulfilled in us, we need to find a way. The way is none other than the way of the cross.
So this is the emphasis for our time.
Our brother Lee speaks on the cross and Christ. Our dear brother Christian speaks on the cross and the Spirit. I was assigned to speak on the cross and the church.
We will look at this matter from three different directions:
By the grace of God, this morning we want to consider the cross as the foundation of the church.
When Paul went into Corinth, he went there to announce the testimony of God. The testimony of God is none other than what God has revealed of Himself.
No one knows God. God is the greatest mystery in the universe. Unless He reveals Himself, nobody can know Him in any way.
But thank God, He is the God of revelation. He is the God who reveals Himself. All that we know of God is because of what He has revealed.
Of course, what He has revealed to us is not all that He is, because He is far beyond us. But thank God, it pleases Him to reveal Himself to us.
What He reveals is His testimony—that is, He testifies of Himself: who He is, what He is, what His purpose is, and what His way is.
The apostle Paul went to Corinth to announce the testimony of God. But in doing that, he knew that he could not do it with the wisdom and eloquence of man, because this is far beyond any human capacity.
So he decided that when he arrived at Corinth, he would know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
In other words, Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the only way to the testimony of God. Aside from Jesus Christ and Him crucified, there is no revelation and no way to the testimony of God.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the very foundation of the testimony of God.
In the days of the apostles, the city of Corinth was a cultured city. It was noted for its eloquence and for its knowledge. Yet it was a very corrupt and evil city.
When the apostle Paul considered announcing the testimony of God to them, he would not match his intelligence with their intelligence. He would not use his own words to try to match them.
He would announce to them Jesus Christ and Him crucified, because only Jesus Christ and Him crucified could save them, change them, and transform them.
Now, brothers and sisters, today when we hear this, perhaps we may feel that it is very elementary. Of course we know Jesus Christ. Of course we know Him crucified.
It is because we know Him and His crucifixion that we are saved. We belong to Him, and He belongs to us. This is very elementary.
But, brothers and sisters, within Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the principle of the full purpose of God.
People who are not saved, who are in sins and transgressions, need to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified in order to be saved. But after we are saved, Jesus Christ and Him crucified is not something of the past.
When we believe in Him and His cross, this is just the beginning. If we allow Him and His cross to work in our lives, then we will be led into the eternal purpose of God.
With the Corinthians, Paul was not able to share with them the full counsel of God. Even though he announced to them Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and they were saved, they were not growing in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
They still lived by their own natural life. For this reason, Paul was not able to share with them the eternal purpose of God.
But he did mention in verse 6 that among the full-grown, they speak wisdom—the hidden wisdom of God.
Now, who are the full-grown? The word perfect here does not mean sinless perfection. Aside from our Lord Jesus, there is no one in this world who is sinlessly perfect.
Only our Lord Jesus knew no sin. He never sinned. He does not even know what sin is. Aside from Him, no one is sinlessly perfect.
But in Scripture, the perfect here means the grown-up, the mature. If we believe in Jesus Christ and Him crucified not only as the means by which we are saved, but allow Jesus Christ and Him crucified to continue working in us, then we will grow and become more mature.
As we become more mature, then we can speak about the eternal purpose of God. We can speak about God’s mystery and how His wisdom is in a hidden mystery.
When you read 1 Corinthians 2, from verse 6 onward, Paul tries to describe what that mystery is—what God’s wisdom is in a mystery.
He tells us that this is a wisdom that the world has never known. It is a wisdom that man has never heard, never seen, and has never thought about, because it is far beyond human possibility.
It concerns those who love God. It is something revealed only by the Spirit of God, and it is for our glory.
Brothers and sisters, what is this mystery? It is the church.
Here you find the connection between the cross and the church. It is through the cross that the church is revealed and realized.
Now let us return to Matthew 16. Our Lord Jesus went to the border of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was a Gentile city.
Our Lord was rejected by His own people, so He retreated to the border of a Gentile city. Then He asked His disciples a question: “Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?”
The disciples gave Him all the reports. Some said that He was John the Baptist come to life. Others said that He was Elijah. Some said Jeremiah, because He wept much; or one of the prophets.
Then our Lord turned to His disciples again and asked, “What do you think that I am? You who have been with Me, what do you think that I am?”
Simon Peter, as usual the spokesman among the disciples, said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Our Lord immediately said to him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. You are blessed, because this is not something that flesh and blood can show you.”
Flesh and blood can tell you that He is a prophet, but it is the Father who is in heaven who has revealed His Son to you.
Brothers and sisters, no one knows our Lord Jesus except the Father, and he to whom the Father is pleased to reveal Him.
Thank God, when we come to the Lord Jesus, the Father reveals His Son to us. What mercy, what grace, and what love!
Because of this revelation of the Father concerning His Son, our Lord Jesus gave further revelation. He said, “Thou art Peter; thou art a stone. Upon this rock I will build My church.”
This is the first time our Lord Jesus mentioned the word church while He was on earth: “I will build My church.”
Brothers and sisters, what we have here is the foundation of the church. A foundation is most important to a building. Even though it is hidden, yet it is most important.
What is the foundation of the church? Some people say Peter, because the Lord said, “Thou art Peter,” meaning, “Thou art a stone,” and then, “Upon this rock I will build My church.”
Therefore, they say Peter is the foundation of the church. Thank God, Peter knew better.
In 1 Peter 2:5, Peter said that as we come to the Lord Jesus, who is the living Stone, we also become living stones and are built together into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
So Peter is not the foundation of the church. If he were the foundation, then when our Lord turned to him and said, “Get thee behind Me, Satan,” that foundation would already have been shaken.
Brothers and sisters, we know for sure that Peter is not the foundation of the church. Nobody is the foundation of the church. Christ Jesus is the only foundation.
Peter is only a small stone, a chip out of the rock; but our Lord Jesus is the Rock. He is the sure foundation.
You remember the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3. He said, “I am like a wise master builder.” Literally, it means, “I am a foreman.” He laid the foundation.
For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
We are all being built upon Him. So, brothers and sisters, what is the foundation of the church? The foundation of the church is Christ Jesus.
In Ephesians 2:20, Paul says that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone.
Then, if you read Revelation 21, you find that in the New Jerusalem there are twelve foundations, with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb written upon them.
Is there any contradiction here? We know there is none. The foundation of the church is Jesus Christ.
The reason the apostles appear as foundations in Ephesians and Revelation is that the mystery was revealed to the apostles and prophets.
In other words, today we know about our Lord Jesus through the apostles. Our Lord Jesus revealed Himself to the apostles, and the apostles delivered that revelation to us.
In 1 Corinthians 11, when Paul mentioned the matter of the Lord’s table, he said, “I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.”
It was not something invented by the apostle. He received it from the Lord, and he faithfully delivered it to us.
The apostle John said in 1 John 1 that our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. The source is the Father and the Son.
The apostles do not have their own teaching or their own fellowship. Their teaching is the teaching of Christ, and their fellowship is the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
So we find that the foundation of the church is none other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
After our Lord Jesus revealed the church to the apostles, immediately afterward, in verse 21, He began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Our Lord revealed to Peter, “I will build My church,” and that it would be built upon the Rock—upon Himself. Then He further revealed to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem.
He would be rejected by the chief priests and the scribes. He would be killed. But on the third day, He would be raised from the dead.
This is the first time that our Lord Jesus began to reveal to His disciples what would happen to Him. Having revealed the church and that He is its foundation, He then began to explain how this foundation would be laid.
He must go to Jerusalem. He must be killed. But on the third day, He would be raised.
Before His crucifixion, there were three occasions on which our Lord Jesus revealed His crucifixion to His disciples. This was the first occasion.
Then, in Matthew 17, after His transfiguration, He was in Galilee and continued to reveal to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and be killed.
The third occasion was in Matthew 20, on His way to Jerusalem. Again, He revealed to His disciples that He must be crucified.
Now, brothers and sisters, why is this so? Our Lord Jesus is the foundation of the church, and that foundation is the confession of Peter: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Our Lord Jesus is the Son of God. He is the eternal Son of the eternal God. He is forever the Son of God.
Even after He came into this world and called Himself the Son of man, He was still the Son of God. The Father acknowledged that: “This is My beloved Son.” That never changes.
As the Son, He was sent into this world to be Christ. Christ means the Anointed One. He was anointed to do a work. He was sent on a mission.
Our Lord Jesus said again and again, “The One who sent Me.” “I am not here by Myself.” “There is One who sent Me—My Father—and I am going to do His will.”
He was sent to accomplish a work: the work of redemption.
Brothers and sisters, how could He accomplish that mission? He had to go to the cross. If He did not go to the cross, that mission could not be accomplished.
He would fail to be Christ. Therefore, He must go to the cross.
He told His disciples, “You acknowledge Me as the Christ, as the foundation of the church. Now let Me tell you how I am going to fulfill My mission, that I may truly be the Christ: I have to go to the cross.”
There is no other way. Without the cross, we have no Christ, because He cannot accomplish His purpose.
Thank God, our Lord Jesus not only came into this world. Our brothers have already mentioned how He was equal with God, but He emptied Himself.
He could not empty Himself of His deity, because that is what He is. But He emptied Himself of all the glory and honor surrounding deity—His place, His power, and His authority.
He emptied Himself of these things in order to become a man, taking the form of a bondservant. That is to say, He claimed no rights of His own.
He was obedient to the Father, even unto death.
Dear brothers and sisters, we thank God for sending His Son into this world. The incarnation is a great mystery.
We thank God for sending His Son into this world to live for thirty-three years. But, as our brothers have already mentioned, if on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah spoke with Him about His exodus, He had chosen to depart from that mountain, He could have done so.
He had lived a perfect life. He had lived a life that was a man after God’s heart. He was worthy to return.
But He refused to return. He came down from the mountain, went to Jerusalem, and went to the cross. It was for our sake.
Christ crucified is absolutely necessary to our Lord Jesus. Without that, He cannot be Christ.
Satan tried to persuade Him away from the cross. Even when He was tempted in the wilderness, Satan tempted Him: “All You need to do is cast Yourself down from the temple, and let everybody see You descending. Then they will all believe.”
But our Lord rejected that. That was not the way for His exodus.
Even at this last moment, Satan tried to use His beloved disciple to dissuade Him from the cross. But thank God, the cross was necessary for our Lord Jesus.
If we proclaim a crossless Christ, there is no salvation.
Our Lord Jesus went to the cross. He was there for six hours.
From nine o’clock in the morning until twelve o’clock, He was surrounded by His enemies. Not only the priests and the people mocked Him; even the robbers crucified with Him mocked Him.
He suffered tremendously—not only physically, but mentally. But thank God, His Father was with Him.
Then, at twelve o’clock, the sun ceased shining, and darkness came over the land until three o’clock.
It was not merely man who rejected Him and crucified Him. It was not just Satan trying to destroy Him. His own Father, whom He had loved from eternity, turned His face away.
In Isaiah 53, it says that the Lord was pleased to crush Him.
That was the time when He cried aloud, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
He did not say, “My Father.” When He was first crucified, He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” The Father was with Him then.
But now God—the holy God, the righteous God—crushed Him, because there He became a sin offering.
Him who knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He could not bear it. He cried out, and the Father turned His face away.
Thank God, our Lord Jesus suffered eternal death for us during those three hours. He was separated from God. That is eternal death.
But He was willing, for us, that we might be saved.
Before He passed away, He said, “It is finished.” The work of redemption was done. Christ had fulfilled His mission, and He gave His spirit back to His Father.
In other words, the Father received Him back.
Because the next day was a great Sabbath, the soldiers came. Usually, when a person was crucified, it was a lingering death.
They came to make sure that those who were crucified were dead. The two robbers were still living, so they broke their legs to hasten their death.
But when they came to the Lord, they saw that He was already dead. To make sure that He was dead, a soldier pierced His side, and out came blood and water.
The apostle John saw it and bore witness to it in John 19. He said, “I saw blood and water come out. I bear witness to it, and my witness is true.”
Now, brothers and sisters, why was John so emphatic concerning this fact?
Because out of His broken heart came the last drop of blood and water.
What is the meaning of this? The blood and water that came out of the side of our Lord are the material for the building of the house of God.
The blood is for the remission of sins. The water is for giving His life to us. He poured out His life like water.
Brothers and sisters, these are the materials for the building of the church.
The church is not built with you and me. The church is built with the blood and water.
The material for the building of the house is Christ Himself in you and me. It is not you and me; it is Christ in you.
It is the blood that washes away all our sins and clears up all the things that are against God. It is His life poured out into us. This becomes the building.
So, brothers and sisters, we find that the cross is necessary for our Lord Jesus, because without it He cannot fulfill His mission as Christ.
On the contrary, He would be our condemnation instead of our justification, because He is the only One who lived a perfect life. But thank God, He was willing to go to the cross for our sake.
From this very cross of Christ comes the material for the building of the church. I believe, brothers and sisters, that we need to see this very clearly.
Too many, when they speak about the church, think the church is a stone building, a brick building, or even a wooden building around the corner of the street.
But I believe, brothers and sisters, we know better. We know that this is not the church.
What is the church? We say that the church is all those who are saved, because the church means the called-out ones gathered together.
We are all the called-out ones, and we gather together. In that sense, we are the church.
Now, in one sense that is true. But in the strictest sense, this is not true.
The church is not you and me. The church is not built with you and me. The church is built with that which comes out of Christ.
Because only that which comes out of Christ can return to Christ.
The church is a living body. It rejects every foreign element. What is not of Christ will be rejected. Only what is of Christ can be joined into the Body of Christ.
I think this is a very important principle that we need to hold on to.
The problem with the church today is not outward persecution. In fact, history tells us that the more persecution there is, the stronger the church becomes.
The problem of the church is us. Are you seeking for a perfect church? Some people say that there is no perfect church. That is very true. We are the problem.
In our natural life, we are a foreign element. To the living church of the living God, that foreign element will be rejected.
That is why we say again and again that the cross needs to work in us. It works to eliminate all that is not of Christ.
Only what remains of Christ will be built into the living church of God.
The cross is not only a necessity to Christ. The cross is a necessity to every one of us.
May the Lord give us the strength to bear our cross. After all, it is from Him, through Him, and unto Him.
Dear Lord, our hearts are deeply moved by Thy love. Who are we, that Thou wast willing to go to the cross for us?
Sometimes, Lord, we wonder whether it is worthwhile. Thou hast done so much for us, but where are we?
We pray that Thy Spirit will search us. Do not spare us.
May Thy cross be transplanted into us, and deliver us from ourselves, that Thy eternal purpose may be fulfilled.
Dear Lord, forgive us. Forgive us for delaying Thy return.
We pray that we may, by Thy grace, be a people ready for Thy return.
Come, Lord Jesus. In Thy precious name, we pray. Amen.